Is This The Land Of The Free?

During yesterday Republican debate, Wolf Blitzer began a round of questions on foreign policy by addressing the conflict between the Palestinians and Israelis. He quoted Trump as having previously said, “Let me be sort of a neutral guy. I don’t want to say whose fault it is. I don’t think it helps.”

Blitzer then asked Trump, “How do you remain neutral when the U.S. considers Israel to be America’s closest ally in the Middle East?”

“Well, first of all I don’t think they do under President Obama, because I think he has treated Israel horribly,” began Trump. “Alright? I think he’s treated Israel horribly.”

Trump added, “I was the Grand Marshal down Fifth Avenue a number of years ago for the Israeli Day parade. I have very close ties to Israel. I’ve received the Tree of Life Award and many of the greatest awards given by Israel. As president, however, there’s nothing that I would rather do [than] bring peace to Israel and its neighbors.”

He then insisted, “I think it serves no purpose to say you have a good guy and a bad guy.”

“Now, I may not be successful in doing it. It’s probably the toughest negotiation of anywhere in the world, of any kind, OK? But, it doesn’t help if I start saying I’m very pro-Israel, very pro-Israel, more than anybody on this stage. But it doesn’t do any good to start demeaning the neighbors. Because I would love to do something with regard to negotiating peace, finally, for Israel and for their neighbors.”

Trump said he can’t do that as a negotiator while taking sides.

Cruz then responded, "This is another area on which Donald agrees with Hillary Clinton. And on which I disagree with them both strongly. Both Donald and Hillary Clinton want to be 'neutral,' to use Donald's word, between Israel and the Palestinians.

"Let me be clear, if I'm president, America will stand unapologetically with the nation of Israel. The notion of neutrality is based upon the left buying into this moral relativism that is often pitched in the media. Listen, it is not equivalent. When you have terrorists strapping dynamite around their chests, exploding and murdering innocent women and children, they are not equivalent to the IDF officers protecting Israel. And I will not pretend that they are.

"Just today Iran announced they're going to pay $7,000 to each suicide bomber. I would note: Missing from Donald's answer was anything he has done, in his nearly 70 years of living, defending Israel."

Cruz concluded, "I have, over and over again, led the fight to defend Israel, to fight for Israel, and if you want to know who will stand with Israel, let's start with who has stood with Israel when the heat was on."

Blitzer asked Rubio what's wrong with the U.S. being an "honest broker" in negotiations, as Trump has proposed.

"Because, I don't know if Donald realizes this, I'm sure it's not his intent, perhaps, but the position you've taken is an anti-Israel position, and here's why," Rubio said.

"You cannot be an honest broker in a dispute between two sides in which one of the sides is constantly acting in bad faith. The Palestinian Authority has walked away from multiple efforts to make peace, very generous offers from the Israelis.

"Instead, here's what the Palestinians do: They teach their four-year-old children that killing Jews is a glorious thing. Here's what Hamas does: They launch rockets and terrorist attacks against Israel on an ongoing basis.

"The bottom line is, a deal between Israel and the Palestinians, given the current makeup of the Palestinians, is not possible. And, so the next president of the United States needs to be someone like me, who will stand firmly on the side of Israel.

"I'm not going to sit here and say I'm not on either side. I will be on Israel's side every single day because they are the only pro-American, free-enterprise democracy in the entire Middle East."

Rubio's statements drew wild cheers from the audience.

Asked to respond, Trump said, "I'm a negotiator," adding, "And in all fairness, Marco is not a negotiator."